Disney's Reality
by AshKiki7
Summary: When the fourth wall is broken by a mysterious magical paradox, Genie and Merlin have to work fast to fix it before all the worlds on the other side are destroyed forever! Meanwhile, everyone from Cinderella to Mushu in stuck trying to act human. Will our beloved Disney favorites be able to survive the real world while avoiding discovery!
1. Day One

The place was dark and eerily quite. As he walked in, not even the door's movement made a sharp enough noise to penetrate the heavy silence that hung over the room like a fog. The man walked in, step by step moving further into the foreign place. His heart beat quickened with adrenaline as each step seemed to bring him closer to something worse than what he'd left outside. Light from an open window and the dim lighting of a lamp here and there were the only things keeping this place from complete darkness. The lights illuminated the dust in the air and every surface was coated in a thin white layer of what dust had settled. This was a lonely place. Empty and forgotten, and it seemed it had been for some time. There were a few shelves, here and there a few books that looked as if they'd been recently taken and put back. But over all the place looked like any of it's brothers. Small bookshops like these were a dying race. Soon they would be all but forgotten and left behind for the convenience of a portable electronic story. That was humans. Always looking for a faster easier way to do things. That was the reason, after all, the ones like him had been created. Genie and his fellow story characters, they'd all been written in an attempt to give people the feeling of an easy, perfect, happy ending life without actually having to go out and live it for themselves. It was almost...sad...

Genie continued moving further into the shop. He could feel the magic that was in the air. Smell it even. It was a light sort of bitter smell. Old magic, like his. But stale. This magic hadn't been used in centuries. He frowned. For whatever reason, this magic had sit idle long enough to stink, losing it's sweet, tangy aroma. The wielder of this magic had probably long ago forgotten what it was supposed to smell like, feel like, sound like. If he'd gone so long without it, there was a good chance he would not want to pick up the practice again, even for something like this. It was an even more plausible reality that he'd forgotten how to use it altogether. Praying this wasn't the case, the man continued further still into the building until he'd reached the back wall. There he could hear the faint sounds of movement coming from the other side.

"Merlin?" he called, looking for the door that would lead him to the other side of the wall and to the man he'd come here to see. "Merlin! If you don't come out here yourself I'll make my own door and go in after you!" He doubted it was much of an argument, but Genie could feel the magic's power in his belly fluctuating. He didn't want to have to use it any more than he had to. If a genie lost his power, he was nothing. Gone. Poof. Even a free genie was no more than a puff of smoke without the magic that made him who he was. If he lost his magic...there went everything else with it...

Merlin knew he was coming even before the man knew it himself. He'd been trying to ignore it for days now. But now it was impossible. That shift in the air. That change in the way the night settled over the earth. No one else noticed it. How could they? They were just mortals. They had no awareness of things like this, and if he told any one of them they'd discount him as a madman. A lunatic fit only for an asylum. Madmen in his time were outcasts, the butt of every joke, the ones blamed when crops failed or children died or wolves attacked the sheep, and the ones who always hanged for it. Come to think of it, now, that hadn't really changed... All the more reason for him to have kept the information to himself. It wasn't like the feeling he got was necessarily bad, anyway. Strange. Threatening. Powerful and full of potential to completely tear apart the fabric of this world and several others due to a disrupting molecular shift in their make-up... But that really was hardly anything to worry about. Mortals had much bigger things hanging in the balance. Like the next celebrity guest on that tv show Glee, or when Lindsay Lohan would be in rehab next. So he'd sat in his small apartment over the antique shop, making himself cup after cup of Earl Gray tea and watching the Weather Channel. They were having a marathon of Storm Stories. So far there'd been five tornado episodes, three hurricane episodes, and six thunderstorm episodes. He was wondering to himself how these didn't get repetitive when he felt that shift in the air shift itself right into his shop.

He was sitting in a backroom, his office, drinking another cup of tea and watching the show on the tiny tv he had, when he felt it happen. Old magic. Ancient and as old as the gods themselves. It had been decades since he'd last even acknowledged his own powers, and yet with another of his kind so close all of a sudden, Merlin felt them stirring weakly in his gut. He smothered them down, stifling them back into silence, but even as he did that he could feel the change in his consciousness. It widened. It expanded. And slowly, he found himself turning his head in the direction the man was coming, and he whispered, "A genie."

As if the other man could hear him, the genie suddenly called out his name, threatening to make his own door and go in after him if he didn't come out himself. Merlin glanced at the closed and locked door to his office, sighing a little as he weighed the options. The genie's magic was old and powerful, he could sense that, but Merlin doubted the genie could hold his own against him, a man who'd been blessed by the Goddess. But then again, that Goddess was long-since dead, and he hadn't used his powers to so much as conjure a tea-cozy in many years. He might try to lock the genie in a cave and end up dressing him in a wedding gown. "Blast it all," he muttered, finally standing and going to the door. He opened it and instantly his eyes locked with that of the other man. A natural draw to each other, encouraged by their ancient powers. But Merlin ignored that, looked the man up and down, then bluntly went, "What kind of genie are you, you don't have a tail. And you're white."

It had been a very long time since Genie had ever met someone even remotely close to as old as he was, so to see this man now, to feel the magic burning between them... It was a good feeling and one that he readily welcomed, even if it was painfully obvious the wizard was not so open to him. Still, when asked the question, Genie laughed good-naturedly.

"We don't all look alike, Wizard, which I hope is the case for your kind too. If all of you looked like that, I'd be filing a formal complaint with the big boss." Pointing up at the ceiling to suggest to whom he referred. But his failed attempt at humor in a dark time like this was met with silence. So he continued, more seriously. "I am the one they call Genie. A djinn and freed companion of the sultan, Aladdin, son of the King of Thieves. I'm sure you've heard the stories. And you are Merlin, wizard of the kings." Genie stepped closer to the wall, looking over his shoulder at the rest of the shop. It was empty now, but there was no telling who might come in at any moment. He needed to speak with Merlin alone. These were serious problems that needed to be dealt with, and as old and powerful as his magic was there was no way he would be able to fix this on his own. He wasn't even completely sure what he was dealing with.

Reaching out his hand towards the door, he let the familiar cool feeling of his magic pour through him. He pictured in his mind what exactly it was he wanted. Easily, in less then a second, the locks on the door had been bolted and the curtains drawn. The shop became instantly darker, but Genie didn't have time to worry about that. He snapped on two lights, shining out of no where in particular, then turned back to the wizard, feeling more secure now about speaking on the matters at hand. "I wouldn't come to you unless it was absolutely necessary. I'm afraid there's no one else to turn to right now." He took three steps closer to the old man. "The fourth wall has broken down. The crack that was left by it's creators, the very one that you and I both have traveled through, has spread throughout the entirety of the wall. I saw it for myself only moments ago. It's pulling through everything from our world into this one. I saw several fall into this world with me. There's no telling what damage could be done if the mortals were to find out about our world. The wall needs to be fixed, Merlin. Now! Say you'll help me?"

Merlin stood and listened and watched, while the genie went on and on explaining what happened and used his magic at the same time, kicking up dust and making the shop even thicker and mustier than before. He just stood and listened and watched when the genie explained that the Fourth Wall had broken and pulled people from the other world into this one. There was no telling the damage that would be done if people from this world found out about the other. Merlin knew that was right. The people of this world were panicky, easy to rile up, difficult to calm, prone to dramatic fits of paranoia and fear. If they found out what had happened here, he would be forced to deal with a hell unlike any he'd ever seen. And Merlin had seen his fair share of hell. He lived it every day. His blue eyes blinked, went a little sad, and then his lips parted and his head lowered somewhat. The genie was right. This was bad. This had to be undone, now, before things got any worse.

There was only one problem. Merlin looked back up at the genie after a moment and then said in a surprisingly firm, steady voice, "The Fourth Wall was formed by magic older and more powerful than either of us. It separates the humans from things they cannot comprehend, things that would frighten and panic them until they destroyed each other. No one remembers who formed it - some say it must have been the gods, who are now dead themselves. And neither you nor I are gods, genie." With that he turned back around and went into the office in an almost dismissive manner, yet he left the office door open. The genie could follow him or not, Merlin didn't really care. It wouldn't change the outcome of this matter, no matter how dreadful it truly was. When he heard the genie hurry in after him, though, he turned back around to face him again. "You ask me to help you fix the Wall. It can't be done, genie. It just... can't. The Wall was built to last forever, there were no plans or safety nets built in case it failed. It was never _supposed_ to fail. There's nothing either of us can do except sit here... wait..." He paused there, looking down at the tea he'd almost forgotten. A smile suddenly came to his face and he took the porcelain cup into his hand, raised it to the genie as if in a toast, and then took a sip before going on.

"And enjoy some lovely English tea. I wish I'd stuck around England long enough to see it's introduction in the 1400's. I love tea. Would you like some?"

Merlin's argument was less compelling to the genie then he supposed it would have been to anyone else.

"Legend dictates your own magic is from the gods, Wizard. And I myself am a demon, equal in power to most of the gods. More importantly, though their power is weakened and their eagerness to help all but gone, Zeus and his court of Greek gods and demigods are very much alive. Even though they may be unable to lend us help in the repair itself, they may provide insight into finding a solution. If you and I were to combine our powers, together we may have more of a chance at fixing this than you say." He doubted his words were any good. This man was crazy! He didn't sound like he cared one inch about what would happen to anyone out there. If the humans reacted, if the others retaliated, if all hell was set loose and Hades himself walked the streets of New England, Merlin seemed to want the world to believe he would sit alone in his office and contentedly sip his tea. And maybe he would. All Genie knew of this man were the legends and stories told by the most admiring fans among the magical realms. One being Cinderella's own fairy godmother, who had a taste for unreliability and elaboration. Genie wasn't sure what he could trust of the knowledge he had if this man. But one thing he was sure of. No one, not even the worst of villains, could live so long amongst the humans, see all of both their good and their bad, and not at least feel some compassion for the good still struggling to survive in them. Merlin had to help. He just had to. Genie couldn't do this alone, and he wanted to believe Merlin wouldn't make him have to try.

Merlin spoke almost immediately after the genie fell silent. "First of all, genie, do not call yourself a demon. I have seen demons, I have dealt with demons, I was nearly seduced by a demon when I was a young man - You, genie, are no demon. If you were, you'd be finding a clever way to kill me with my teacup instead of standing here begging me to help you save the cosmos." He stopped there, blinking to himself as heavy thoughts settled in his mind and shadowed his eyes. No... No, this genie was no demon. He may have been formed as a djinn, a supernatural creature with phenomenal cosmic powers that existed only to grant wishes for mortals in order to gain freedom (thus making him very sneaky and instinctively selfish), but there was no evil in him. One part of his magic Merlin had never been able to repress or ignore was something every living human had. In his time it was a universal power that bound everyone together, mortals and witches and wizards and everyone. Nowadays, it was known simply as intuition. Instinctual feelings that might lead you to the truth, but couldn't be trusted for their own sake. Merlin knew differently. Intuition was only a shadow of what each mortal held inside them. If any of them cared anymore to explore it, expand it, they would find it was more akin to a natural and powerful lie detector. He had never been able to suppress that inside of himself, and it came in handy now even though he'd never admit it. No, this genie was no demon. He was possibly one of the purest souls ever to walk this earth.

But Merlin wasn't telling him that. Instead the older man blinked again and sighed heavily, turning away slowly and shuffling back towards his tv. "I know of those Greek gods. Zeus. Hera. Aphrodite. Dionysus. They wouldn't help us if we begged, genie. The fate of humanity is no longer their concern. Going to them would be a waste of time we do not have. You want to save these worlds? Leave well enough alone. Give humanity that much more time to believe nothing is wrong."

Genie frowned in thought. Of course what Merlin said about the gods was true, but he didn't want to give up what little hope he had of trying to fix this before it got out of hand. Merlin said the only way to help was to leave well enough alone, as if that was more merciful than at least trying to save them first.

"What about the demi-god? Zeus's son. Surely he could speak with them. Get them to agree to help us, for his sake." He wasn't sure where the man was or what had happened to him, but he knew of Hercules and the great things he'd done. And he knew of the woman he loved and the friends he'd made. Surely to save all of them he would help. "We can't just give up, Merlin. It's not mercy to just let the Wall crumble! It's quitting. For whatever reason, laziness or cowardliness or heartlessness, it's still the same. I won't quit. I'll try, with or without you, but you know I can't do this alone." He stepped forward, trying to plead his case one last time. "You used to be the greatest wizard who ever lived. You used to help people. Please, Merlin. Say you'll help me." He doubted any words could get through to this man, but if he didn't try then there was no hope. He had to try.


	2. Beast

Merlin was opening his mouth to shoot down the genie's second suggestion of going to Hercules, telling him to open a book about Greek mythology and take a look at what happens to that so-called hero, when the genie rushed on. He used to be the greatest wizard the world had ever known, he said. He used to help people, and he begged him, help now. He was needed. The genie would take this path with or withouot him, but without he would certainly fail. With, he only might fail. But all of this was fading quickly in his mind. What the genie had said afterwards was what was sticking in the forefront, and bringing up memories he had long-since buried. That idea... helping people. _Helping_... people. It had been so long since he'd imagined himself as someone who could be capable of that. And why? Because everything he'd tried to help... everything he'd tried to protect or preserve... or even love... It had all been destroyed. He had been separated from his old life for countless years, but the voices and words of people he had known back then still echoed in his ears like he'd heard them only minutes before. "You must help me, Myrrdin, I must have her!"... "Myrrdin, help me... I don't understand, you have to help me understand!"... "Help me learn, Myrrdin! I want to be a great king like Uther, help me!"... All of them... so many voices... Uther begging him to bring him Igraine... The soldier Lancelot asking him to tell him what sort of witchcraft had been placed on him that he fell in love with the one woman in Britain he could not have... A young, starry-eyed Arthur, pleading with him to teach him all he knew so he could be the king that prophecy had foretold... And then as if watching it all over again, he saw them all die. Uther's death as an unsatisfied, unfulfilled king who could have and should have been so much more for his people, Lancelot's death on the field of battle protecting the king he had stolen everything from, Arthur's death shortly afterwards at the hand of his own illegitimate son... Then, like a banshee come to haunt him and torment him for his mistakes, Igraine's voice shrieked in his head, "What have you done?!" He didn't know... Centuries later and he still couldn't give her ghost an answer. He didn't know what he had done to cause all this evil to happen. He had never meant for any of it. All he had been trying to do, with every step and every breath he took... was help...

Genie leaned forward, his palms pressing into the desk as tried to catch Merlin's eyes. The man seemed suddenly distant. He had that far away look the previous sultan got whenever he was remembering his daughter as a child or his wife. "Merlin?" It worried Genie for a moment. He couldn't help but wonder, tentatively even hope that something he'd said had gotten through. That somehow a memory had been triggered that would convince the wizard that Genie's cause was one worth getting involved in. He needed someone as strong and as wise as Merlin was. He had to know that. Genie crossed his fingers, hoping that as Merlin parted his lips and drew in a breath it would be to tell him that he would help after all. Maybe even asked what Genie wanted him to do. Then again, that was probably wishful thinking...

Merlin would not have history repeat itself. He would not allow more lives to be destroyed and lost because he had to shove himself into things that he shouldn't. The genie would have to handle this on his own. If he became involved... everything would just get worse. Merlin turned and met the other man's eyes, opening his mouth to tell him just this, when a loud crash came from the front of the shop. Shelves were knocked over and several heavy things crashed to the floor, along with what sounded like something very large and very much made of glass. A burglar, perhaps... But no, that thought was quickly pushed from his head. His magic, though long-since untouched, tingled in his fingertips. That was no burglar. That was someone else from their world. And Merlin could only sigh. "I hope that wasn't the Ming Dynasty vase... Took me three years to procure that thing..."

Genie didn't hear a word the wizard said. Just as he was parting his lips to speak, a wave of energy passed through Genie's body so strong he was nearly overwhelmed. He straightened, inhaling sharply and eyes widening as the sensation passed through him. And then for a split second it calmed, and he was frozen in the position, standing there as if expecting the sky to fall over him. And then the feeling, like a wave, was pulled back. Genie let a breath out of relief, feeling the pressure leave his body as the magic in his belly settled. He blinked his eyes, noticing Merlin had barely felt that at all. He wasn't sure if it was because of the power of his magic or the lack of recent usage. Either way, Genie was jealous. That wave had nearly knocked him over. But it had also done something else. It had stood as proof of what Genie had feared. The Wall was not only breaking down. It was pulling more and more people through. The worse it got the further it would reach, in an attempt to pull things through to plug the gap. Taking another deep breath, he braced himself for the worst. He could only imagine what the Wall had pulled through this time, and with the size of that wave it had been close.

Genie instantly turned and ran into the showroom to see what in the world was going on! Merlin followed. The second they exited the office, they both stopped. What they saw made Genie pale and Merlin blink. There was a tall, obviously strong man wreaking havoc on Merlin's antique shop. He had scars lining his chest and face, as if a dragon had raked it's claws right across his entire body and the man had, by some miracle, survived, but even as Merlin thought of that, his mind told him no. No, this was no dragon's doing. He could practically smell it on him. The man was dripping in witch's magic. Genie didn't really care what magic it was... This man was the angriest, more terrifying man he'd ever seen. With all the scars and his hair a mangled mess and his body hunched over. He lifted an entire solid oak table with easy and tossed it across the room, landing it into another book shelf and knocking hundreds of books all across the room in the process.

"Answer me!" he screamed in a primal tone at the cowering handful of new people in the corner. "I demand that you give me an answer!" They did nothing but huddle closer together, trying to protect each other from whatever he'd throw next. He man growled like a frustrated wild animal, grabbing a stool and throwing it at the shelf covered wall above their heads. Several books were knocked on top of them, but as far as Genie could tell no one was hurt. He rushed forward about three steps, not wanting to get in the middle of this madman's temper. Suddenly noticing the new comers to the room, the man turned on them. And it was when he did that Genie felt his heart clench in a brief moment of pure terror. Those eyes, locked onto his, held nothing but dark, primal rage. But that wasn't what scared him. What scared Genie to the absolute bone was that in those eyes, those animal eyes, Genie saw a pain deeper than he'd ever thought possible. And past that he saw horror. This man, as angry and violent as he was, was (very obviously now that he'd seen it) clearly the most terrified being in the room. And that was scarier than anything. Because anger was predictable. Pain was predictable. Even seeming random acts of violence had a pattern. But when a man was scared, when an animal was scared, there was no telling what it would do.

"You," he growled tossing aside the arm chair he'd grabbed and stalking over to where Genie stood. "You answer me."

Genie instantly lifted his arms in surrender and gave the man an apologetic smile, backing up a step as he answered quickly "Hey. Unless this is Jeopardy you're gonna have to ask me the question first." It didn't take more than a heartbeat for the monster to scream again.

"Why am I unchanged?! Why have all my servants been freed of this curse while I remain unchanged?!" It was really more of a roar. A terrifying roar. Genie frowned, backed against the wall but now a little less scared of the guy. He was loud and destructive but he wanted his answers. He wasn't going to rip someone's throat out if they could potentially give those answers to him. He looked again into the man's eyes, trying to find a familiar spark in them. Something to tell him who he was. And then it hit him. The servants, the curse.

"The beast," he spoke aloud, his voice just above a whisper.

"Answer Me!" He glanced sideways, hoping that Merlin had followed him out and would give him a hand. He wasn't sure what to do here, but obviously this guy wasn't about to calm down until he'd either gotten his answer, which Genie couldn't give him, or destroyed everything in this shop... Either way, it was bad.

Merlin watched the scene silently. This man was obviously from the other side of the Wall and quite possibly the worst thing they'd have to deal with from it. He was already terrorizing his recently freed servants. God knew who else he'd terrorize if he was allowed to leave the shop...

Which was why, when the beast turned back around to face his terrified servants, grabbing a heavy statuette of a Hindi goddess and reeling his arm back to strike one of them across the face, Merlin did something he hadn't done in a very long time. He stretched out his hand, and for the first time in longer than he could remember, he stopped repressing the magic in his blood. It coursed through him like an electric shock, producing a small gasp that escaped his lips as the magic burst forth from his hand, expanded in the air like a sound wave, then caused the Hindi statuette in the beast's hand to jerk itself out of his grasp, hover in the air for a moment as everyone watched, then swing itself down and crack against the side of the beast's head. The man roared in pain, but that hardly lasted a couple seconds before he lifted both hands to his head, gripped it tight, then fell to his knees. Merlin twitched an eyebrow. "Alright, well, he's not unconscious, but I'll take it. All of you," he raised his voice to address the group of people who were staring at their master on the ground in a mix of confusion and remaining fear. They looked up as Merlin addressed them, and he waved his hand towards his office, "In there. Go on, go, go, he won't be like that all day..." The people obeyed, all of them rushing past the beast and into the office. Once the last woman had yanked her skirts inside, he firmly shut and locked the door, pocketing the key and then catching Genie staring at him. Merlin stared back.

"The Wall cannot be fixed. It's not possible, genie. Stop insisting it might be, it isn't. But as long as you and others like you are stuck here, I can't very well have you all terrorizing humanity. Fine. I'll help you." He cut himself off when the beast groaned loudly and started crawling back to his feet, at which point Merlin glanced at him, then back at genie. "But you're dealing with all of them. Including that one. Good luck."

At first what Merlin said didn't quite register. Genie was just...so surprised by the beast's reaction. He'd in a matter of seconds gone from angry bear to injured pup. Feeling a pang of compassion for the man, he hardly even noticed when Merlin ushered the others into the back room and locked the door so they were left alone with the beast. His full focus was on the man, who sat silently on his knees, his head bowed and his face hidden.

But when Merlin told Genie that he would help, it sparked some attention from the djinn. He glanced over his shoulder at the old man. It seemed he was serious. He was agreeing to help him. He was more pessimistic about it than Genie would have liked but hey, he had the man's alliance now. At least, on the condition that Merlin had no part in taking care of those from the other side. Genie was fine with that. He could help these people. Most of them could take care of themselves anyway. It would just be a matter of introducing them into the ways of this world and then letting them discover the rest on their own. So he nodded. "Fair enough." But as soon as he agreed he turned his attention back to the man who'd been causing so much trouble. "That one" as Merlin had referred to him. Feeling more confident now, Genie slowly began to walk towards the crumpled beast. He reached his hand out to help the man up, but the beast jerked violently away from him. A man's pride was strong, so maybe a beast's pride was stronger. Genie could understand that. But it didn't sway him from wanting to help, however foolish that could turn out to me...

"Are you alright?" he asked, knowing full well the answer would not be positive if at all. The beast didn't answer, but grunted. Genie nodded. He couldn't imagine what the man had been through or how he was feeling right now. And he doubted the guy was going to want to sit around and talk about his feelings. He tried a different question. "You can call me Genie. What should I call you?" At that the man glanced up over one arm, but then returned to his previous position, hiding his face.

"You know what I am. A beast." When he spoke his voice rumbled, as if his throat was filled with gravel. Genie wasn't sure what that meant exactly but had a good enough idea to take a guess.

"Is that what you want us to call you? Beast? It's not exactly the greatest name in the world." Again, he only grunted in answer. "A yes then. Okay. Well... This has been fun... So, since I'm sure you have no idea what's going on right now, Beast, I'll tell you. Just now, you've been..." Another wave, similar to the one the beast had come through but much weaker, cut Genie off as it hit his chest. He waited for the feeling to pass before looking back towards Merlin. Had he felt it too? Then he turned back to Beast. "I'm sorry, but duty calls? Uh... The others are coming...? So I've gotta go... Is there anything I can get for you?" He looked over the man once more, who's only apparel was a ratty old pair of brown trousers. The Beast was well aware of this too, because at the question, he looked up at Genie, lowering his arms and rising to his full height with absolute ease.

"A cloak," he requested, his deep, gravelly voice resonating from his chest rather than his throat. Genie nodded, looking up at the very, very tall man.

"You got it," he said, masking the nervous crack in his voice as he pointed his finger at the man's chest. A blue spark popped from his fingers, one he briefly wondered if anyone else could see, now that he appeared human. From the spark, appeared a long, heavy brown coat in the man's arms. He looked at it for a second before throwing it over his shoulders and pulling the hood over his head. The cloak covered his scared body and masked his face in shadows, but still Genie could see him now. A silent thanks from a proud beast. Genie looked back to Merlin, calling "He won't be any trouble. Now I have to go and find a princess!" And with that, the doors blew open and Genie was gone, leaving only a faint trail of blue smoke behind him.

He was headed for the source of the second wave, a large church a few blocks down. Beast, on the other hand, stayed standing where he was. He looked over to the man who'd hit him over the head. His temple still stung from the blow but he wouldn't touch it again. He stared at the man, trying to catch his gaze, to find out who or what he was. But after a while he decided he didn't care. He was angry and tired and hungry, and though he didn't want to admit it, even to himself, he was scared. It was better, for him and for everyone else, if he just stood in a corner and disappeared. And so that's exactly what he did. He grunted, then turned away from the man and moved through the shop to the corner where his servants had been cowering. He stood there, completely still, disappearing in the shadows of the building that had grown considerably dark since the genie and his lamps had left. Because what else was there to do but wait? This Genie person said he'd had answers, but then he'd said to wait for the arrival of the others. So that was all he could do. If he ever wanted to find out what was going on, he'd have to get it from that damn Genie.

Merlin watched as the genie swept from the shop, saying something about having to go save a princess. Yes, he had felt that ripple in the fabric of space and time as well. He knew what it meant, that someone else had arrived, and nearby too. And he wasn't about to stop the genie from going after whatever princess it was he had detected. Merlin just took in a deep breath and then looked back at the man who named himself only "Beast". Well he certainly looked and acted... and smelled... like one. Merlin stared at him for a moment before the beast's eyes snapped to him and started staring right back, at which point Merlin just sighed. "Well, I don't suppose you would be interested in English tea...?"

* * *

**Hi, I'm Kiki! **_And I'm Ash!_

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